


Hey Juliet

by venoire



Series: Notice Me [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, First Love, Fluff, Fluffy, M/M, Shyness, cuteness, high school sweethearts, jean is a shy boy with a frowny face, marco is a over friendly jock, marco is a sweetiepie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:32:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1355920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venoire/pseuds/venoire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco Bodt is the MVP and captain of the basketball team in St. Maria High School. Everyone adores him and he just loves to talk to and be acquainted with nearly every student in school. But what happens when all his attention is suddenly focused on a certain two-toned blond transfer student with a stoic face?</p><p>inspired and written for Miyajimamizy (tumblr user)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hey Juliet

**Author's Note:**

> gift fic for the lovely MiyajimaMizy, her [MarcoJean High school AU sketches](http://miyajimamizy.tumblr.com/post/79157467407/miyajimamizy-high-school-au-where-jean-is-an) are just so cute, go to her tumblr! you wont be disappointed, i swear it! <3333
> 
> on a side note, this is my first multi-chaptered fic series for this fandom and i havent been writing in a while so i hope you can bear with me with the mistakes i'll be making in some of the parts of this series ( also if you want to be a beta please do, i need one really bad... ;u; XD )

 

* * *

 

_ Hey I've been watching you _  
_ Every little thing you do _  
_ Every time I see you pass _  
_ In my homeroom class, makes my heart beat fast _  
_ I've tried to page you twice _  
_ But I see you roll your eyes _  
_ Wish I could make it real _  
_ But your lips are sealed, that ain't no big deal _

-Hey Juliet (LMNT)

* * *

 

 

_Adrenaline_

It’s what keeps you going after you’ve exhausted all your energy.

Seventeen seconds on the clock and we were tied with the opposing team.

_Sweat_

My hair is soaked and it clung to my forehead. I didn’t spare it a thought though. My focus was on my teammate being blocked by an opponent player. He had the ball and it was clear that he didn’t have an opening.

My shoes squeaked on the floor as I ran towards him.

“I’m open!”

I waved my arms while running, making sure that his wide green eyes would make their way to me. As soon as he heard me his head snapped to look in my direction. I was close and he took the opportunity while the opponent’s defense slipped. He bounced the ball to pass it to me and I caught it.

_10…._

I ran towards the basket, feet pounding on the floor while dribbling the ball to match my speed. Suddenly I was being chased. I forced my legs to carry me faster, further, and I can see how close I was getting to the basket. I knew the crowd was going wild but they were drowned out by my loudly beating pulse. I’m close. I’m so close to the basket. An opponent tries to block me. He was taller than I was and he aimed to swipe the ball away from me. I bit the inside of my cheek and maneuvered myself to his right. As soon as he made a move to stop me I crossed over to his left and slipped right passed him.

_4…_

It was a clear shot and there was no one left to block me. The world started to slow down.

_3…_

My hands gripped the ball and I was screaming. I bent my knees and I leaped forward.

_2…_

I couldn’t hear anything. Not the crowd, not my own screaming. Just my own pulse beating against my ear drums.

_1…_

My hands slammed against the ring and the ear splitting sound of the shot clock buzzer rang obnoxiously against my ears. The crowd went absolutely crazy. Their cheers echoed through the gymnasium. When I felt my feet finally land on the floor, I threw my fists up in celebration and my teammates ran towards me. I was assaulted by a sweaty and intense attempt of a group hug. I wasn’t even aware that I was still screaming until my throat started to hurt.

We won! We won the game!

Cheers and congratulations were thrown in for our team and I just couldn’t help but grin widely. My green-eyed teammate threw his arm over my shoulders and brought me down screaming, “We did it! We won!” I laughed and wiggled my way out of his arm to reverse our positions. I was about to give him a noogie but he slipped through my arm before I had the chance to. I glanced towards the crowd and found a blond head in the midst of them; it was Armin. He was cheering too. I caught his eyes and he gave me a huge grin, punching his arms in the air. I grinned back at him and I couldn’t help but cheer again.

It wasn’t until my eyes travelled to the guy beside him, that I paused for a moment and the hype died down slowly. He didn’t look familiar and my eyes stayed on him. I could tell he was looking at the scoreboard since his head was tilted up.

I cant explain why, but I couldn’t stop looking at him.

There was something about him that intrigued me but I couldn’t figure out what. From where I’m standing I can make out that his hair was blond, but not like Armin’s sunshine blond; it was more on the sandy blond side and is that an undercut? In the midst of my staring he finally glanced down and our eyes met. He jolted and I saw how his shoulders visibly tensed in surprise. I blinked and attempted to smile at him. I raised a hand up to wave for him but he turned away. He tugged on Armin’s sleeve and the blond boy turned his attention to him. He whispered something to Armin’s ear and Armin’s eyes fell on me once again. I raised a brow and Armin just smiled at me, almost sheepish. I cocked my head slightly to the side as Armin turned to whisper something back to the other boy before waving back to me. I felt my eyebrow rise when they both stood up and made their way out of their seats. I was going to call after them when I heard my coach’s voice calling for me. I turned around and saw that he was beckoning for me to come over. Our team was poised in front of a camera and Coach Smith was calling for me to join them. I glanced shortly back at the bleachers and saw no sign of Armin or the boy he was with.

I decided that I’ll just ask Armin about it later when I see him.

 

\----

 

My alarm let out a loud shriek. It was Monday.

I sneaked my arm out from under my covers to reach over and turn off the annoying alarm. I succeeded and for a moment I was back in the blissful lulling silence. It didn’t last long though. Before I knew it there was a knock on my door and I heard my mom’s voice, asking for me to get up and get ready for school. I groaned and pulled myself up. I hate Monday mornings. What I would do to stay in bed for another hour or so. Sadly, once I get up there’s no going back to sleep. I yawned, stretched, hauled myself off my mattress, and made my way to my closet to pick out my clothes for the day.

I took a quick shower, dressed up, and fixed my hair before going downstairs to greet my mom. I kissed her cheek while she was finishing up her scrambled eggs, then I helped myself with some orange juice from the fridge.

“Use a glass, dear. I dont want your lips to go anywhere near that carton.” She scolded me playfully. I chuckled and rolled my eyes but I obeyed her anyway.

I sat myself on the dinner table as my mom served my breakfast: waffles and scrambled eggs. My eyes lit up and I grinned down at my plate. It was my favourite! She kissed my forehead and said, “It’s to congratulate you for yesterday’s game.” I thanked her and kissed her cheek before digging into the sweet breakfast pastry.

_Speaking of the game…_

I thought to myself while twirling my fork. I remembered the boy I saw with Armin that evening. I still remembered how he looked so surprised when our eyes met and thinking about it now… it was intriguing and cute. I know it’s probably a bit creepy that I thought a random guy in the crowd during my basketball game was cute but I’m not going to lie to myself. It wasn’t like I was in love or anything, he just caught my interest and I wanted to know who he was. Especially since it looked like he was friends with Armin. I’m technically allowed to know who he is, right?

My thoughts were interrupted by my mom warning me that I was going to be late if I didn’t get a move on. True enough, I looked at the clock and realized that the bus was going to leave in fifteen minutes and I was still in my house. I swallowed the eggs I was chewing and took a huge bite of what was left of my waffle before gulping down my juice and running out the door, all in less than a minute. Fortunately, I made it to the bus stop in record time, and just before the doors closed. When I finally caught my breath from all the running, I took a seat by the window and plopped my bag on my lap. It was a fifteen minute drive from my house to my school so I fished out my ipod and earphones from my bag pocket and plugged them in. My world started to get filled with music as I let my thoughts wander with the beat of each song that played in shuffle from my ipod.

Before I knew it, I was thinking about that mystery boy again, and how he just instantly caught my attention. Now that I think about it, there wasn’t really anything special about him. I mean, he looked normal; just your typical normal guy watching a high school basketball game. But there was something about him that I can’t explain. Something… different.

I squinted my eyes, blindly looking out the window.

Maybe it was because that was the first time I saw him? I mean, our school isn’t the biggest one here in State Maria so it was easy to get familiar with everyone’s faces. Perhaps that’s why he was a striking face to me.

I sighed and propped my elbow on the window ledge, placing my chin on my palm. _I really need to ask Armin about him._ I thought.

Approximately ten minutes later I was nearing my stop. I unplugged my earphones and stuffed them neatly in my bag pocket before getting up from my seat and off the bus. I walked the last stretch from the bus stop to the school gate. As soon as I got in I got greeted by students and teachers alike; congratulating me for a job well done in the game and that they were looking forward to watching the next one. I also got looks and flustered greetings from female students and some guys...? I smiled, greeted, and thanked them all the same.

“Hey, Marco!” I heard someone call for me. I recognized the voice instantly. I turned around and I saw a teammate and friend of mine running towards me with a huge grin on his face. He was a short, slightly bald dude with a round head and a childish face to match.

“Morning, Connie.” I greeted him as he caught up to me and started walking in my pace.

“Mornin! Hey, have you heard the news?”

“What news?”

“They said there’s this new guy in campus.”

“In the middle of the semester?”

I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say, and if my observation from Armin’s behaviour yesterday was anything to vouch for then I’d say I got this one in the bag. We stopped by our lockers to pick up some books and drop our extra stuff in when Connie mentioned almost exactly what I was thinking.

“Yeah, I think he’s in most of Armin’s classes.”

“..Huh.”

 _Guess I was right._ For the most part anyway.

“Yeah, I’m not sure if he’s a transfer student or an exchange student. But the point is…” He paused and looked at me after closing his locker. “He’s a new student who needs new friends, and I say it’ll do him good to be acquainted with the right crowd.” He smirked at me and wiggled his eyebrows.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I smiled sheepishly at him and gave him a look. Having the ‘popular’ status wasn’t really something I like to flaunt around and show off. It was just a silly status; I don’t see what the big deal is. It's not like I get too much special attention, more often than not I'd rather that people don't. I'm just a normal student like everyone else.

“What I mean is that, if there’s anyone in this school that would love to go and talk to him, it would be you.” His grin got wider and it was starting to look too mischievous for me to brush off. I closed my locker and raised a brow at him. He returned it with an eye roll of his own.

“What I’m _trying_ to say is that if you’re going to flirt with someone via eye contact in the middle of the in court celebration, at least make it discrete.” He crossed his arms looking smug. What the heck was he talking about— _oh_.

“Oh-“ I said out loud. “Wait, no! No no. I wasn’t—“ I felt my cheeks grow warm all of a sudden. Was it that obvious that I was looking at him? Did it really look like I was—

Connie started to laugh and smacked a hand on my back.

“Relax, dude. I was just kidding!” He huffed. “But seriously man. He doesn’t look like the type who would talk first so you should take initiative. He’s a pretty cool guy once you get him to talk to you.” He smacked my arm and started walking to the direction of his class. I blinked and paused for a moment before finally catching on.

“Wait, how did you know he—“ my question was cut short when the bells started to ring. I was late for class! I cursed lightly under my breath and turned tail. My classroom was on the other side of the building, darn it. The question was burning at the back of my mind while I sprinted down the halls.

_How did he know what kind of guy he was?_

I was forced to push the thought away when I realized I was late for math class and that I would have to go in with Sir Levi in front. I slowed down and stopped with my hands on my knees. I shivered involuntarily at the thought of going into Sir Levi’s class late. It was never easy to go in a class with the teacher already in front, but it was terrifying with this particular teacher. Status be damned; he punishes his students if they be so much as a minute late for his class. I peeked in the classroom to check if he started already, and to my surprise I didn’t see him. I blinked and sighed in relief. I was safe for today.

“Excuse me?”

I jumped when I heard a voice from behind me. I turned around quickly, expecting an angry Sir Levi to be right behind me, but who I saw was an entirely different person. It was none other than the boy I’ve been thinking about all morning. He was wearing a greenish grey hoodie with faded black pants and white sneakers, and had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. He was looking down on a piece of blue paper which I expected to be his schedule.

“Is this .. uhm.. Math class with sir Levi—“ He looked up to see who he was talking to and cut himself off. I saw his shoulders stiffen slightly and his eyes went wide, exactly what he did when we first made eye contact in the gym.

Tawny. His eyes are tawny.

I blinked at his expression. I was waiting for him to continue, but that didn’t seem to be possible for him at the moment. I felt my lips tug into a smile.

“If you’re going to ask which classroom that would be this one.”

I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder to point at the classroom door we were standing in front of. _So he’s in my Math class._

He blinked before glancing at the square window on the classroom door to peek inside. He was about half a head shorter than me so he had to tip his toes a bit to look over my shoulder. The hand that he used to hold his schedule dropped slowly to his side while his other went to clutch at the bag strap that crossed his torso. The mystery boy’s eyes found their way back to mine and he immediately turned them away. I had to fight the urge to chuckle and grin like an idiot. That was kind of cute. The fact that he tried to look at everything but me made him look even cuter.

_Wait.. what?_

I stopped my own train of thought. How could I think this guy is cute? I literally just met him. He hasn’t even told me his name yet. I suddenly felt embarrassed and my cheeks grew warm. I coughed into my hand before stepping aside as an attempt to hide it.

“Uhm.. we should probably go inside.” Despite my sudden embarrassment, I still kept a smile on my face as I opened the door for him. “Sir Levi will never forgive us if he caught us standing outside his classroom.”

The mystery blond nodded slowly, still refusing to look at me. His eyes shifted to glance warily at me before mumbling a small ‘Thank you’ then making his way timidly into the classroom. Everyone’s eyes were suddenly on the two of us, expecting the teacher to have been the one who opened the door. When they realized it was just their classmates they went back to their own businesses. Some of them greeted us good morning and I greeted them back, though the boy beside me stayed quiet. I was about to offer to find him a seat when the classroom door opened again. This time it really was the teacher and all the noise in the classroom stopped almost instantly.

“Bodt, what are you doing standing in front of the door? Get to your seat.” He commanded. He didn’t sound angry but he didn’t sound pleased either; I didn’t want to push my luck. He may be on the short side but his authoritative demeanor was twice his size.

“Y-Yes sir.” I stuttered and I quickly made my way to the seat at the back by the window.

“You’re the new kid, aren’t you?” I heard him speak to the blond boy. I saw him nod at the teacher and move his lips. I’m assuming he was confirming Sir Levi’s suspicion.

“Right. Okay.” The teacher made his way to the desk in front and the student followed after him, stopping just beside the desk while sir Levi grabbed a white board marker from his vest pocket and started to write on the board. It was a name.

“Listen up.” He placed the cap back on the pen as soon as he’d finished writing and placed it neatly on the teacher’s table. “This guy’s your new classmate; Kirschtein, Jean.”

_Jean. He’s French?_

“Be nice to him. If anyone bullies him I’m reporting you- no, I'll drag you directly to the principal’s office.” He threatens. “Kirschtein, take a seat over there so we can begin class.” He pointed to the seat diagonal to mine and Jean made his way to it, he caught sight of me and I smiled at him. Jean nodded awkwardly; mouth set on a straight line, and took his seat.

Math class was uneventful as usual. I tried to stay focused on the derivatives and intercepts but every time I lift my head up to look at the white board, my eyes would wander to a certain sandy blond haired boy sitting diagonally across my seat. He’s starting to become a very interesting distraction for me. I found myself wanting to know more about him, to befriend him. An hour and thirty minutes later, class was over. I was about to approach him to ask him what his next class was but sir Levi called for him. One by one the students went out the door to their next class. I took my time fixing my stuff in hopes that maybe I can wait for them to finish talking. My plan was thwarted when sir Levi noticed me lagging behind the other students. He looked at me pointedly and said “Don’t you have other classes to go to?” I stiffened and grabbed my bag. I apologized quickly before making my way out the door. _So much for that chance._

The rest of the morning was pretty much spent with me just breezing through my classes. I wanted to ask Armin about Jean but I remembered that I don’t have classes with him until the afternoon, so I’m just going to have to find him during lunch.

 --

The cafeteria was filled with students by the time I got myself in. I managed to snag a hamburger meal and a juice box before they completely ran out, then I went to look around for Armin. It wasn’t very hard to find him; his apple bob haircut was pretty easy to spot, not to mention his hair was strikingly blond for anyone to miss. I found him sitting on the table beside my basketball team’s usual spot. He was talking to one of my teammates, Eren Jaeger, a messy haired brunet with green eyes and slightly tanned skin. He sat beside Armin with his legs on the outer side of the bench and his elbows propped behind him on the table. I approached them and greeted them both before sitting myself down across Armin.

“Hey cap’n!” Eren twisted himself to look at my direction and did a mock scout salute. I grinned before returning it, greeting him.

“That’s new, you’re not wearing your letterman today, Marco?” I heard the blond say.

“Oh, well. It’s actually still in the laundry. It was pretty messed up because of last night.” I looked at Eren and he laughed.

“It’s not my fault. I didn’t know one of the guys was stupid enough to actually get drunk and throw up on you. It was partly your fault anyway; I told you to just let him walk by himself.”

“Excuse me for trying to help.” I rolled my eyes slightly at him but the small smile on my lips betrayed my annoyance. Honestly, they thought it would be a good idea to hold a party in Eren’s house and sneak in some alcohol to spike the punch.

“You’re too nice for your own good, Marco.” Eren grinned and I took a bite of my burger, shrugging off his comment.

“It’s better than being a jerk half of the time.” Armin spoke up after his spoonful of chocolate pudding.

“Hey!”

I just laughed.

“Oh, Armin?” I remembered why I wanted to find Armin so bad today. He turned to look at me, curious. I continued. “I’ve been meaning to ask you… uh…” I don’t know how to ask him without sounding weird but I took the chance anyway. “About that guy you were with yesterday?” His brow rose as he looked at me quizzically. Eren took interest in my question and leaned forward on the table.

“What guy?”

“The one with the undercut? He was blond, weren’t you with him?” I swallowed a lump on my throat that somehow formed while I was trying to explain to Armin. For a moment, he looked confused but then his eyes widened and he let out a small amused gasp of—‘oh!’

“You mean, Jean?”

“Yeah..?”

“Why do I not know about this?” Eren interrupted.

“You were probably too busy gloating that you didn’t notice that your captain was ogling someone in the bleachers.” Armin grinned.

“ _What?_ ” I nearly choked on the fry I was chewing on.

“What?!” Eren snapped his head at me and I felt my cheeks blush. “You had your eyes on someone? Was he your type? Did you do that dunk to impress him?” He wiggled his eyebrows and it just made my cheeks grow warmer. I frowned at them.

“W-What are you even talking about?” I sputtered. “It’s nothing like that! I’m just curious, I’ve never seen him before and he looked like he was really close to Armin.” I turned my eyes to the blond in question and he just laughed at me.

“Calm down, captain. I’m just messing with you.” There was a small disappointed noise that came from Eren but I chose to ignore it. “He’s a childhood friend of mine. He just moved here a week ago from across the country and decided he didn’t want to wait for the next school year, so he enrolled in the middle of the semester.” He explained calmly, shoving another spoonful of pudding in his mouth.

“I didn’t even know the school allowed a student to enroll so late.”

“Yeah well… apparently he’s accelerated.” Eren blinked and asked him what it meant. “It means he’s supposed to be a senior already but since he moved here from State Sina he has to repeat his junior year to fill the requirements of our school.”

“Wait, so he’s smart then?” Eren asked. Armin hummed and I felt myself nodding, amused.

He’s a genius, apparently. He has to be legit for Armin to admit it. Armin’s like one of the smartest people I know. I found myself even more interested in him than I was this morning.

“Why did you ask about him?” Armin looked at me and I willed the blush on my cheeks to stay at bay.

“I just… nothing.” There was no way I can tell him that it was because the guy’s been stuck in my head since this morning. Especially since Eren’s still sitting with us anticipating an answer that he can turn against me.

“He was in my Math class this morning so…” I trailed off, not really sure how to continue my explanation. Armin didn’t press further though and opted to change the subject.

“He’s actually supposed to meet me here for lunch, I wonder where—oh! Speak of the devil.” Armin brought a waving hand up. I turned to look at the direction he was waving at and found Jean. He was carrying a tray of food and when he saw Armin’s waving arm he smiled slightly and approached our table. I kind of wanted to help him carry his tray but before I had the chance to do so he was already near the table.

“Hey, Jean. Let me introduce you to Eren and Marco.” He gestured to us respectively. Both Eren and I said ‘Hey’ and he nodded to both of us. Jean’s eyes trailed on me for a second longer before mumbling a small ‘Hey’ of his own. I felt something warm sink to the bottom of my stomach. He timidly sat down beside Armin and the shorter blond didn’t waste a moment to chat up his childhood friend while he started on his sandwich. He asked him with how his day was so far, if he was having trouble with reading his schedule, or if he liked our school so far. He was met with vague answers, and by vague I mean the occasional grunts and casual ‘yeah’s and ‘ahuh’s. He wasn’t very vocal with his opinions to say the least.

“You’re not very talkative, are you?” Eren commented offhandedly. It earned him a frown and furrowed eyebrows from Jean. Armin kicked his shin under the table.

“Ow!” He hissed. “What was that for?”

“Don’t be a jerk.”

“I wasn’t!”

Jean just rolled his eyes and looked like he was attempting to tune out the argument happening beside him by grabbing an apple from his tray and taking a bite off of it. The rest of lunch period was spent mostly just me, Armin, Eren, and Jean talking—I mean if you count Jean’s occasional grunts and hums then yes he was talking. Before we knew it the school bell sounded the end of our lunch break and we went to go our separate ways to our own classes. Except maybe for me and Armin; we had the same class after lunch so we ended up walking together. Armin offered to take Jean to his class but he politely declined, saying that he can find it on his own. I was going to bring up the little incident we had this morning but decided against it. I didn’t want him to get put off by me. We each said our good byes and started down the hall to our first class in the afternoon.

“Is he always that quiet?” I found myself asking.

“Huh? Oh, you mean Jean.” Armin pondered for a second. “Not really, he’s actually really talkative once you get to know him better.” He chuckled. “He’s probably still shy.”

“Is that so…?” I wondered out loud, a small smile tugging the corners of my lips.

 --

Homeroom is usually three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and most of the time it’s the very last class. Our homeroom was the same classroom as math class this morning and our homeroom teacher was, yeah, you guessed it; Sir Levi. I got to class early this time and sat in my usual chair at the back. There were other students already sitting in their chairs, chatting and just generally doing their own thing. I looked out the window and let my mind wander a bit. I didn’t have a class with Jean today other than math and to be honest I was kind of disappointed. I was hoping I’d have at least one more class with him so it would be easier for me to get closer to him. I wanted to know what he was like when he’s with someone he knows. I bet he was different around Armin. I won’t lie, I’m a bit jealous. Just a bit. I mean, I don’t have the right to actually be jealous in the first place, I just met the guy. I sighed. Maybe I’d have better luck tomorrow.

My minor pity party was interrupted by the sudden influx of students coming in through the door. I’m willing to bet my lunch money on the fact that our homeroom teacher was making his way to our classroom already. It may be homeroom but Sir Levi still observes the proper time schedule of class hours, so if you’re not in class when he comes in you’re dead. In the midst of the stampeding students frantically making their own seats, I noticed a familiar mop of sandy blond hair. I felt my stomach do a flip.

_Jean’s in my homeroom class!?_

He didn’t seem to notice me as he practically threw himself on his chair just before Sir Levi entered the room. I felt my lips form into a smile at the realization that yes, he is in my homeroom class, and the possibility of finally being able to talk to him after class period. Well, not unless he had a club after school, which I’m hoping he doesn’t. Homeroom isn’t exactly the most exciting class of the day; most of us use the time to catch up on other our other subjects, some of us just laze around or watch the news on the TV that’s hanging from the ceiling. That is… if the teacher permits us to do so. Sir Levi usually uses the class time for announcements or consultation for his math students, and sometimes for he himself to spend some time to just chill. It was the second one of the three today and to my surprise one of the students who approached him was Jean. There was a long line to the teacher’s table and he was the last one. I contemplated on whether I should line up just to get the chance to talk to him but decided against it. I don’t have a reason to consult with Sir Levi in the first place. It would be awkward. The line was quick, and in just ten minutes Jean was already at the front. Sir Levi called him over and he practically glided towards the table.

Three times wherein he lifted his eyes from the table and accidentally catches my eyes. I would smile at him and he would either look away or offer a very small subtle smile in return. In those smiles I felt that warm feeling at the pit of my stomach and I can’t help but let my smile grow wider.

A good quarter of the remaining class hour was spent with consultation between Jean and Sir Levi. I was starting to think that he made Sir repeat the whole lesson this morning when Jean finally closed his notebook with a satisfied hum and head back to his seat. The teacher cracked his neck and stood up from his desk.

“Okay you bunch of brats. I’m dismissing you fifteen minutes early today.” There was a pause and everyone let out a short cheer of celebration. “Don’t forget your assignments due on Thursday. Dismissed!”

The sound of skidding chairs filled the room and one by one the students made their way out the room; each meeting up with their own cliques. Pretty soon the room was empty, even Sir Levi had gone out already. I, on the other hand, intend to finally talk to Jean, and maybe offer to walk home with him. I mentally grinned as I slung my backpack over my shoulder and approached him. He was still fixing his bag when I stood beside his table and coughed into my fist.

“Uh.. hey.” I smiled.

My distraction looked up at me and blinked, his mouth opened and closed for a moment before he looked back down to his stuff and mumbled a small ‘…Hi’. There was a moment of silence between the two of us and I didn’t know what to say next. I brought a hand up to scratch the back of my neck, a habit I developed when I was nervous.

He sat still for a while and I was starting to wonder whether he was still breathing or not. I was going to call for his attention again but the sound of his chair skidding across the tilled floor interrupted me and he excused himself. He was about to head out the door but the sound of my voice calling after him made him stop in his tracks.

“S-Sorry, I just...” I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to figure out what exactly was I going to say to him. He turned around to face me and his eyes bore through me; piercing but curious. I gulped. “Do you want to walk home together? Or something?” I attempted to sound casual by smiling as normal as I possibly could but my shaky voice betrayed me. He blinked.

“You don’t even know where I live…” I heard him say; softly, almost like a whisper.

“Oh, yeah.. well.. I uh…” I stuttered, loss for what I should say. I suddenly felt a little stupid. I mean, who offers to walk home together yet didn’t even know if the other walked in the same direction as you? Stupid, so stupid.

“Okay.”

My mental train of thought went to a screeching halt.

“Huh?”

He turned around.

“I don’t mind.” He mumbled before finally stepping out the door.

I took a moment to register what he just said before my feet finally kicked into gear and I was out of the room to follow him in an instant. By the time I caught up to him he was already at the front door of the school. The building we were in wasn’t very big in the first place. It looked like he was waiting for me and I didn’t bother to fight the smile creeping on my lips. I walked up beside him and nodded before letting him set the walking pace. I followed by his side.

“So… do you just walk to school or…?” I found myself asking. It took us until the gate before he answered me.

“…Bus.” He said, and true enough the direction he started walking in was to the bus stop, the same route I took this morning.

“Oh, me too.” I commented. There was a stretch of silence between us as we made it to the bus stop. It was a little awkward so I decided to break it.

“You’re friends with Armin?” I asked him, trying to make small talk.

“Yeah…”

“He said you’re a smart one, being accelerated and all.” I chuckled, he just grunted. “So from where in Sina State did you come from exactly?” There was a pause before he answered me.

“Stohess.”

I hummed in reply. Stohess was one of the big cities in Sina; it’s usually where the rich and the famous lived. I wondered briefly why Jean would move to a small little town in Maria when Stohess was one of the best cities in the country. I was about to ask when I caught myself; that’s probably something a stranger shouldn’t be asking. There was another stretch of silence between us, but it wasn’t that awkward this time. Actually it was rather comfortable. Maybe it was because he actually talked to me, sort of.

The bus arrived after a few minutes and we both boarded it. We paid for our fair and took seats near the middle of the bus, with him taking the window seat and me taking the aisle seat. As the bus drove off I relaxed into my seat. It was a fifteen minute drive and I was trying to figure out what else I can say to bring up a topic for me and Jean to talk about. Much to my disappointment, I got nothing. I took a chance and glanced discreetly to my side to look at him. He was looking out the window, with his arm resting against the window pane and his chin resting on the palm of his hand. I found myself almost unable to tear my eyes away from him. It wasn’t until he met my gaze when I realized I’ve been staring at him the entire time. We both blinked and I sputtered a quick ‘sorry!’ before turning my head to face the front. I fought the blush that was creeping on my cheeks. I heard a faint beeping sound coming from beside me and went to reach for my phone; to my surprise I didn’t have it in my pocket. I was going to check my bag when I saw Jean take out his phone. It was one of those high end cell phones with the touch screen and front camera view. He typed onto his phone before proceeding to play with it to pass the time. He was like that throughout the duration of the bus ride and I thought briefly if I should ask for his number. I pushed the thought back as we neared our stop. The bus stopped slowly and I proceeded to stand up from my seat, Jean did the same and he followed me down the bus.

As the bus drove off I was left all alone with Jean again.

“Uhm… My place is this way.” I pointed east. Jean nodded and pointed to the direction opposite to mine. I took that as an indicator that his house was down that way.

“Oh, okay.” I said lamely. I was a little disappointed. Jean was practically my neighbor but it had to be at the other side. He mumbled a little and it sounded suspiciously like a ‘see you’. He was going to turn and leave but I called after him for the second time that afternoon.

“Uh, this may sound a little weird but…” I trailed off and I met his eyes once again, I felt my lips tug into a sheepish smile. “…is it okay if I asked for your number?” He stared at me and for a moment I thought he was just going to leave me hanging but I thought wrong since he started to fish out his phone from his pocket and is that a blush on his cheeks? I snapped out of it and went to fish out my own. I was going to get the number of the not-so-mystery boy I’ve been trying to befriend!

I was met with the feel of empty pockets and then opted to check my bag, only to realize I didn’t have my phone with me. I dug around for it in the depths of my backpack but to no avail. I must have left it somewhere in my room this morning and not have bothered to go back up to get it. I sighed and hung my head dejectedly. I kept my gaze on the ground, contemplating on what excuse I should say and maybe apologize for the awkwardness, but when I looked up Jean held out a piece of folded paper for me. I curiously accepted it. I saw the blush blooming on his face and I felt my stomach flip again. I couldn’t help it; he was cute when his cheeks were tinted with pink. _Gah!_ I mentally smacked my head. _Marco, stop. You’re not supposed to be obsessing over someone blushing, especially since you literally just met that someone today_. I was going to say something but before I knew it, he blurted out a quick farewell and sprinted down the street opposite of mine. I sighed and looked down at the paper in my hand. I unfolded it and read the content. There were numbers written sloppily in the middle of the paper and I realized it was probably his cell number. I grinned and folded the paper again before slipping it into my pocket and turning on my heel to walk to the direction of my street.

\--

I got home exactly ten minutes later and greeted my mom. She was in the kitchen cooking our dinner. I went to her and kissed her cheek, told her that I’ll be in my room and that she can call me when dinner is ready. She agreed and told me to wash up since dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I nodded and made my way up to my room and checked my desk for my phone. Lo and behold there it was, sitting quietly by my study lamp. Dang thing. I picked it up and unlocked it. I reached for the piece of paper in my pocket to type in the number that Jean gave me. After saving it in my contacts with his full name, I debated whether I should send him a text now or later. In one hand I would get to know if the number he gave me was right, but on the other hand it might make me sound a little clingy. I decided against it. I’ll text him a little later. I placed the phone back on my desk before making my way towards my dresser to pick out more comfortable clothes to wear. I grabbed a pair of sweats and a plain white shirt then headed for the bathroom across my room for a quick shower.

After my quick shower I got dried off and got dressed in the clothes I picked out. I made my way back to my room to drop my clothes in my hamper. As soon as I got in though, my eyes caught sight of the phone on my desk. I checked the digital clock that was on my bed stand. It read six thirty-seven. It was enough time I guess. I picked up my phone from the desk and unlocked it, then pushing a few buttons to open a new message.

 

**_To Jean:_ **

**_Hey! :)_ **

 

I heard my mom call for me, telling me that dinner is ready.

“Coming!” I cried.

I hit send and tossed the phone on my bed before making my way down to join my mom.

Dinner was delicious, thanks to mom’s home cooking. I helped her clean up the kitchen before retreating upstairs. I had no homework due tomorrow so I made a beeline to the bathroom to prepare for bed. After brushing my teeth and washing my face once again I headed to my room with a yawn. My feet padded on the carpet of my room as I stepped inside, my door closing with a click. I didn’t bother to open my main light since I went and plopped myself on the bed as soon as I got near it, the light coming from the lamp beside my bed was the only thing illuminating my room. I was about to turn it off when I noticed the slow blinking light coming from my phone that I tossed in my bed earlier. That can only mean…

I reached for the tiny gadget. There was a new message blinking on the screen. It was from Jean. I smiled.

 

**From Jean:**

**Hello.**

 

It was a simple message but I shouldn’t help but feel a little excited. I checked the time the message was sent in—six forty, almost right after I sent it.

 

**_To Jean:_ **

**_Slr, had dinner. Have you eaten? :D_ **

 

I hit the send button and about a minute later I got a reply.

**From Jean:**

**It’s alright. I had dinner too.**

**_To Jean:_ **

**_Oh, I’m right on time then? Haha_ **

**From Jean:**

**Yeah, I guess. Hehe.**

 

I stared at the ‘hehe’ as I thought of something else to say. He seemed more ‘talkative’ in text so I decided to test the waters.

 

**_To Jean:_ **

**_Awh, it’s almost like we’re linked or something. Haha! jk! XD_ **

 

It took a moment for him to reply to that one.

 

**From Jean:**

**Maybe.**

 

I felt my heart stutter. _Maybe?_ I shook my head and buried myself under my covers before replying.

 

**_To Jean:_ **

**_Ahaha! Anyway, I want to say sorry about earlier. I didn’t know I forgot my phone at home today._ **

 

I decided to change the subject. That ‘maybe’ caught me off guard.

 

**From Jean:**

**It’s fine.**

 

I sighed in relief and typed out another reply. As one reply lead to another, we started talking about random things like favourite movies, favourite subjects in school, favourite sport… I found out that he actually plays basketball himself but he stopped when his parents asked him to take up tennis. I frowned a little at that. I also found out that his favourite colour was red. Each random fact I found out about him made me want to know more. Pretty soon I found myself yawning again. I checked the clock beside my bed and saw that it read eleven fifteen. _It’s that late already?_ I thought to myself. I rubbed my eyes and switched off the lamp on my bedside table.

 

**_To Jean:_ **

**_It’s getting late, we should go to sleep._ **

**From Jean:**

**Oh, right. It’s 11 already.**

**_To Jean:_ **

**_Haha, yeah. Anyway, see you tomorrow. :)_ **

**From Jean:**

**Yeah, see you.**

****

**_To Jean:_ **

**_Good night, Jean._ **

**From Jean:**

**Good night, Marco.**

I smiled as I locked my phone with a click. It was nice talking to Jean; I got to learn a bit more about him. I placed the phone on my night stand and rubbed my eyes with a yawn before rolling to face the other side of my bed, the side facing the wall. I can’t wait to see Jean tomorrow; I want to know more about him. I want to get close to him. Maybe he can be comfortable with me as much as he is with Armin. I giggled slightly at the thought. _Yeah… I’d definitely try and make that happen._

I let my eyes droop close, inviting sleep to finally consume me.

**Author's Note:**

> I am so sorry if this chapter is so boring. ^^;; I promise it’ll get better in the next few chapters! Also, I realized Jean sounds like a kuudere with a huge helping of timid shyness. Marco sounds a bit off too. They’re both a little OOC, I know but it’s going to get better. :> you’ll get too see the normal Jean and Marco bit by bit as the chapters come along. So for now, please bear with me. XD 
> 
> thank you for reading! and i hope you'll stay tuned for more!


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